Today motion picture and film strips are used for entertainment, education and business purposes throughout the world. Such wide usage of films and the like is both a cause and result of the technical evolution of films, photography equipment and lighting fixtures. An outcome of this evolution is the high quality which is now seen in the finished film products.
Although most facets of the film industry were affected by this evolution one facet which was not concerns the progress of the apparatus used to secure film on a reel. Even in its infant stage the film industry used paper strips. These special paper strips were used by wrapping the paper around the film on a reel and securing the ends with a string which was then wound around the paper and fastened around a grommet paper tab. The disadvantages of this method are that the paper is subject to tearing, the string is subject to breaking, and the whole process is cumbersome. In addition, the paper conceals the name of the film on the leader thus requiring extra labor for labeling. The cost of the paper strip is minimal but considering the labor involved in labeling each strip and their single usage which is usually necessary the cost is more than anticipated.
An alternate form of film retainer is a rubber band type embodiment. This film retainer has a much lower rate of acceptability because the bands are only suitable for much smaller reels, they tend to crack and break with age, and they can cause physical distortion of the film due to the pressure exerted where rubber bands makes contact with the film.
A reel can is for use in transport and storage but also possibly for film retention on a reel. Disadvantages of the reel can are that they are heavy, expensive, and that they conceal the contents of the can when there is no edge labeling.